Which Fancy Dog Breed Won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show in 2010?

I grew up on a farm. So did my mother. She also showed dogs: Collies, Shetland Sheep dogs, Scottish Terriers and a Dalmatian. First we bred and sold Poodles, then we moved into German Shepherds. I showed them for three years from 1970-1972 when they were still in the Working Breed category. The last dog I showed won ribbons. He was Dipsy Doodle Von Korde, a Red Sable.

German Shepherds are now designated in the Herding category. They were originally bred for herding in Germany. However, that was many generations ago. They've since been trained more in the working category as guard dogs, rescue dogs, military and as an important part of the K-9 units on police forces across this country. In fact, when I was showing the dogs, there were two main ways to choose to go in showing the dogs: normal conformation and conformation with the German Schutzhund training.

Successful training and showing in Schutzhund events added a definite cachet to a dog's breeding credentials and reputation, making them very desirable as stud, increasing their stud fees and popularity. Schutzhund training requires that the dog is certified as healthy, especially in the hips and displays its intelligence and versatility.

The training is much more rigorous than conformation training, which has three phases that include obedience, tracking, and protection well preparing the animal for police or military duty.

Conformation training, for a German Shepherd, or any dog from the Herding, Sporting or Working classes requires tougher training than the other classes of dogs, which includes the Hound, Terrier, Toy and Nonsporting categories, because they're literally required to run in the ring, sometimes quite a few times. If your dog won in its class and went on to the Best in Show event, that's a whole lot more running.
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/breedinformation/

If the judge is well acquainted with the Shepherding or Working breeds, especially the German Shepherds, they will run your butt off in a ring that's large enough for that purpose. I've known judges to have the rings enlarged for our categories if the show sponsors made the rings too small.

One of the traits that the Working and Shepherding classes is especially judged on is the long, smooth gait that floats effortlessly over the ground, covering as much ground with as few steps as possible. This trait only comes from breeding and extensive roadwork.

The other thing that will make or break the exhibition is the back-line from the head to the tail. The judge is looking for a smooth, firm, slightly down-sloping, unbroken back-line from the base of the head to the base of the tail. The head is to be up and alert with forward pricked, alert ears and the tail smoothly sloping from the base. The back and the stomach must be well conditioned, not jiggly. This requires extensive roadwork. Believe me; you will want to do the roadwork if you plan to survive in the ring. Handlers and dogs that are out of breath in the ring don't normally place, except in puppy matches.

When the dogs aren't being run in the ring, they're being posed or stacked, which is the correct term. Most breeds are stacked 2/2, the two front legs straight under the front and the two back legs stretched out from the back at an angle, even with each other. The German Shepherd is stacked 2/1/1, The two front legs are straight under the front and the near back leg, the leg closest to the ring center and the judge's view, is placed straight under the body and the far leg, closest to the handler, is stretched out as far as is comfortable at an angle from the body.

The difference in the pose has to do with what is both the big plus and big minus for German Shepherds. The dog is especially judged on that effortless gait which comes from how long the stretch is from the hip to the ground. However that is also where the fault can be if the gait is too flexible, the hip can be too open causing hip dysplasia. It's a fine line between a very flexible gait and a dangerously open hip socket.

When the dogs are being stacked, the judge meets each of them individually to judge their character and how they greet him. They need to be unafraid, friendly, cooperative but non-responsive to his advance. If they cower or physically respond to his touch they can be disqualified. The judge checks the conformation of their face, the shape, how the eyes are set, the health of the teeth, color. Then the judge will run his hands over the dog and check with his hands if the dog is actually what his eyes tell him. He may feel to see that the tail is indeed set in smoothly and if the animal is a dog, male, and not a bitch, female, the judge will check to make sure that both testicles are fully descended or the dog will be disqualified.

At least with the German Shepherd, the dogs don't need to be shown in all-breed shows to go to the top of their breed or to be well received in their world. In fact, there was a lot of debate about showing in the all-breed shows because the circumstances were usually stacked against us. We usually got the worst rings with the least amount of room with judges who were often not very well qualified for our breed.

I remember sitting ringside at the few all-breed shows we attended, grumbling over the unequal treatment, the muddy, cramped rings versus the beautiful, clean, spacious rings for teeny little dogs that minced around in a fraction of the space while we were flying through barriers into the spectators because we couldn't stop in time,
or we were running into each other. We used to complain about the fat handlers of little dogs who walked around the rings with dogs who were winning on their haircuts.

In our experience we found the all-breed shows to be tilted toward the smaller breeds with their getting the preferential treatment over the larger breeds and the judging tended to be skewed toward the smaller more decorative breeds. Before you tell me that I might be prejudiced, allow me to introduce you to my current dog, Summer, who is a Chihuahua whom I plan to replace, when it's time, with another Chihuahua.

There are two very prestigious all-breed dog shows in this country, the Golden Gate All-breed in San Francisco at the Cow Palace and the Westminster All-breed in New York City at Madison Square Gardens. The Westminster show in New York has a history that goes back to 1877, although the first officially awarded contests don't date until 1907. The same terrier won the first three years.

In the 103 years since then, a Scottish Terrier again takes the top honor in 2010, by the name of Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot, known as Sadie. This was her third year to attempt at a win. The Best of Opposite Breed was also a Terrier of another type.
http://www.cbssports.com/general/story/12937155/scottish-terrier-sadie-wins-westminster-after-protest/rss

In fact, in the club's long history, Terriers have won 45 times. The other groups to win are in this order: 19 in the Sporting group, which includes Pointers, Setters and Spaniels; 15 in the Working group , which includes Mastiffs, Pinschers and most of the largest breeds; 10 in the Nonsporting group, which includes Poodles, Bulldogs and other dogs of that size; 9 in the Toy group, which includes all the really teeny tiny dogs such as Chihuahuas, Pekingese, and Poodles; 4 in the Hound group which goes from the Afghan down to the Dachshund; and 2 in the Shepherding group, a German Shepherd and a Collie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Kennel_Club_Dog_Show

These particular winners may have been the actual Best in Show at that time or they may have been what satisfied that particular judge's prejudice. Most judges have a breed preference, and many of them will judge according to that prejudice to the exclusion of the actual merits of the other breeds present at the show.

The judge had actually chosen Sadie as a winner in a previous show in North Carolina last year. He already considered her to be the winner before the show started. Even though there are no rules against this prejudice, it's usually frowned upon. The judges are supposedly impartial, and they will argue that to the death that they are,
when in fact they aren't because they will get fewer jobs if they make it known that they are in fact prejudiced.

However, savvy dog handlers study to know their judges and will check the shows and the assigned judges to decide which shows to enter and which ones to pass on because a poor showing in an event can be marked against a dog in the final outcome on how they progress in their career.

The All-breed show really is not a good place to show your larger breed dog unless you really enjoy beating your head against a brick wall. Owners of small breeds usually are the promoters of all-breed shows, and they tend to be insensitive toward the special needs required of the larger breeds. They also tend to be prejudiced against
them as evidenced by the heavily skewed show results and the disparity in the ring accommodations for the different breeds. We've also noticed that in the Kennel clubs. It's better to join a club that is either for your specific breed or is tilted in that direction or you will find yourself being left of the considerations for events.

Sources:

http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/breedinformation/

http://www.cbssports.com/general/story/12937155/scottish-terrier-sadie-wins-westminster-after-protest/rss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Kennel_Club_Dog_Show